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Question
'"Question" '''is the fourth Special of the 2016 Specials and the 184th episode overall. It was published on February 1, 2016. In the episode, Queen Niall of Fantasyland, during her exile in the Gingerbread Empire with Emperor Edward V, does some research on her newfound family and makes a startling discovery. The Episode ICICLE CREEK PALACE LIBRARY DURING THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FANTASYLAND'S EXILE OF SEASON 3 Emperor Edward V of the Gingerbread Empire found Niall alone in the library. She was hunched over a large stack of old books. Many of them had dynastic seals on the covers. "Well hello," Edward said, sidling up to the table. Niall looked up with a kind smile. "Hi," she said, "I didn't see you come in." "Secret passage," Edward joked. "How are my siblings?" Niall asked, "Same as usual?" "Pretty much," Edward said, "Discovering the perks and overwhelming downsides of exile." "Hmm," Niall said, turning back to the books. "Doesn't seem like you're reading anything," Edward said, "Are you researching?" Niall laughed. "You guessed it. Although it seems rather futile. I'm trying to find records about my family. My real family. The King and Queen of Fantasyland." "Anything specifically?" Edward asked. "Answers," Niall replied. She waved her hands. "But this library doesn't have any of the documents I need. I do not mean that offensively. I just mean that your father never owned anything about my family." Edward swallowed. "He did," he said, "But it's not here. He locked all his papers away shortly before he died. I inherited the key, of course, but I haven't read everything yet. There's an entire stack of documents about your family. I can retrieve them for you if you'd like." Niall jumped out of her seat and hugged Edward. "That would be fantastic!" To Edward's pleasant surprise, she kissed him. ICICLE CREEK PLAZA TWO DAYS LATER Niall went over the timelines again. She double-checked her notes. Interesting...she thought. "Niall!" Harvey Dugood shouted from the third floor window of the palace, "Do you want iced tea or lemonade for lunch?" "Lemonade," Niall responded, "See you then!" Harvey stuck his head back inside and Niall turned once again to her notes. Three months. A three month period of absence. And... "I see you're fast," Edward said, taking a seat on the bench beside her. "Well," Niall said, "I'm curious." "Anything...scandalous?" Edward said, feigning a scare attack on Niall. She couldn't help but laugh. Her smile quickly fell. "I found this...it's a letter from my father to yours. King Stephen of Fantasyland writes to Emperor Edward IV of the Gingerbread Empire: 'Friend, Rose and I are going to be spending a few weeks, or longer, in your Empire for official Fantasyland business. You can rest assured this is no threat or attack on your great nation. We will write to you upon our egress from the Empire. Let us know if you want to meet. Signed, cordially, King Stephen." "So?" Edward said, "Our families were close friends." "This letter was written before any of us were born. All four...er...five of us." Edward nodded, still reeling from the Lumiukkess' announcement a week ago that Noah, a Captain of DAWN, was the fifth child of the Queen of Fantasyland. "The King and Queen of Fantasyland were absent from their duties not for a few weeks, but for three months," Niall said, "It was the only time they had appointed a regent. They took a serious journey. But for what? What did they come here for?" "Vacation?" Edward suggested, "Official royal retreat?" "This was two years before Harvey and I were born," Niall said, mostly to herself, "I wonder what they were doing..." "It's a mystery," Edward said, "Lunch?" "More than a mystery," Niall said, "It's a question...THE Question." "You can answer The Question later," Edward said, "First, let's eat." ICICLE CREEK PALACE LIBRARY THREE DAYS LATER "Thank you for meeting with me," the Emperor said, sitting across from an elderly woman dressed plainly. She adjusted a bonnet atop her head before sitting. "It is my pleasure. Tell me, your Majesty, why did you summon me here?" "Of course," Edward said, "It concerns your old friends. Rose and Stephen." "Could you be more specific?" the woman asked. Edward frowned. Was she serious? "Ethel," Edward said slowly, "I mean the King and Queen of..." "Yes yes," Ethel said hurriedly, "I was only joking. Of course I know who they are. They're both dead now. Rose recently died, I heard. That's what all the turmoil is. What about them did you want to know? It's not like they had any secrets worth keeping beyond the grave." "What about Noah?" Edward asked, "Their fifth child?" "Oh well yes," Ethel said, "There's him. What, did you only just find out? Rose tried keeping it from me, but I saw right through her. She only called once a year or so. Just to check up on me." "Did she ever visit?" Edward asked. Ethel thought for a moment. "She did," she said finally, "Not frequently. We grew up together, you know. In Fantasyland. My mother was the gardener at the castle and Rose was the only child of the former King and Queen. So she needed friends. The King paid my mother to have me play with Rose." "Were you her only friend?" Edward asked. "No," Ethel said instantly, "There was Stephan, the boy. They were an arranged marriage since before they were born so they became fast friends and lovers." Edward nodded to show he was listening. "Did she visit you about 25 years ago? It was when she appointed a regent in her place." Ethel's eyes twinkled. "I knew it," she said. She removed her glasses. "What?" Edward said. "Yes, Rose visited me. Before Niall and Harvey were born. Before all of them were. I'm assuming you found me by scouring the visitation files of my district. At the time of the royal visit, I had been living here about two years. Rose wrote to me to ask if she could come. She said she needed help. Naturally, I agreed." "She came alone?" Edward asked. "Just Rose and Stephan," Ethel said, "It was rather urgent. They only wanted to stay a few weeks, but..." "Yes?" Edward said, now intrigued. Ethel leaned back and replaced her glasses. "Listen carefully, your Majesty. I said before that there are no secrets of Rose's I am obliged to keep. She never made it clear to keep this one clandestine. I did out of respect. But you must understand the gravity of this information. It will, if it reaches her family, be life-changing." "You're being dramatic," Edward said, "Just tell me." Ethel nodded. "As the monarchs of Fantasyland, they had to have an heir. That is the case for all royal families. So Rose and Stephan tried shortly after their marriage. And failed. And failed again. Doctors could not deduce the problem. Rose wrote to me asking if I could help. The doctors in the Gingerbread Empire have always been better and more skilled. Rose did not want anyone to find out if she was infertile, so she came here to find a doctor who would analyze her quietly." "She's infertile?" Edward stammered. "No," Ethel said curtly. Edward lowered his eyebrows. "Then..." "A doctor in 592GL determined that Rose was perfectly capable of having children. But he was far more intelligent than they could have hoped. He asked to analyze Stephan next." Ethel paused. Edward gasped. "Stephan is sterile," Ethel said, "HE is unable to conceive." "Oh my God," Edward said, "Then..." "Then the four royal children are not part of Stephan's family. Only Queen Rose's." "What about Noah?" Edward asked, "You said the four royal children. There are five." "Noah is the offspring of Queen Rose and Emperor Edward IV of the Gingerbread Empire." "W...wh...what? MY father?" Ethel nodded. "Sorry." Edward shook his head, willing to deal with that later. "What do I tell Niall?" A book dropped behind a bookshelf. Edward couldn't help but smile. "Niall?" A scared and rather mortified-looking Niall walked slowly from behind the bookshelf. Ethel curtsied graciously. "I heard it all," she muttered, "I...If Stephan wasn't my father, then who was?" Ethel sat back down and gestured for the Emperor and Queen to do the same. "Once Rose found out, she and Stephan agreed they could not return home until they resolved their problem. They knew Stephan was sterile and nothing could change that, but they still needed heirs. Laws in your realm prohibited adopting heirs, so Rose either had to divorce Stephan or give up her title." "She did neither," Niall said, "So..." "She did something rather unorthodox," Ethel said, "And I urge you not to lose your good image of your mother. What she did brought you into this world." "An affair?" Niall guessed. "Close," Ethel said, "Stephan and Rose agreed to find a suitable 'candidate' to conceive the children." "A...candidate?" Edward repeated, "Like a sperm donor?" "A little more direct," Ethel said, "She basically needed a lover." "Oh," Niall and Edward said together. "Rose once came here over the summer holidays in her childhood. To 235GL. While there, she met someone. She was 14. He was 15. They were good friends and likely a bit more. I never asked too much. His name was Yavn." "And he was who they chose?" Ethel nodded and smiled at Niall. "Stephan and Rose found him in 33GL when they came here searching for a candidate. It took them three months, but they found him. Rose took him back to the palace. Yavn is the biological father of Niall, Harvey, Sasha, and Grant." Niall and Edward said nothing. Neither could think of anything to say. "Where is he now?" Niall asked. Ethel bit her tongue. "Dead," she said. She looked gravely at Niall. "Those two schmucks who took your castle. They killed him a few years back to prevent him from fathering anymore children of the Queen." "Castor and Pollux," Niall scowled, "Taking everything from us." "Yavn was given a hero's funeral," Ethel said, "Here in the districts. If it was in Fantasyland, it would have risen questions. He is remembered fondly for his contribution to the sanctity of the realm." "Four of them," Edward added. "Niall," Ethel said, "You must remember that Stephan was a magnificent father to you for the years you were with him. He was just as heartbroken when you were wrenched away. He will always be remembered as benevolent and brave." "What should I tell my siblings?" Niall asked, "What do I do?" Ethel shrugged. "Did hearing any of this change your image of your mother?" "No," Niall said. "Your father?" "No," Niall said. Ethel smiled. "Does that answer your question?" ICICLE CREEK PALACE BALCONY Edward and Niall sat atop the royal balcony overlooking the capital city. "Well?" Edward said after a while, "You going to tell Grant and Harvey? Sasha?" "No," Niall said, "Stephan was our father. Rose was our mother. It's not fair to taint the memory of them because our father was unable to have us. He raised us." "For the most part," Edward said, smiling. Niall took his hand in hers. "Let's forget about the Question. It's answered now. My family had secrets. So did yours. So does everyone. Let's not focus on that." She turned to Edward. "Let's focus on how to knock Castor and Pollux off my throne." "Agreed," Edward said with a final smile. Production Promotion Along with the publication of "Past the Point of No Return" on January 15, 2016, the trailer for this episode was released. The video is to the right. The music used is called "Damsel's Escape." The trailer summarizes that Niall and the Emperor will discover a terrible truth about the deceased royal monarchs. Continuity and Story Arcs During her exile in the Gingerbread Empire (set during the course of Fantasyland''), Queen Niall began researching her family, aided by Emperor Edward V. Since Edward's father had an affair with Queen Rose that resulted in the birth of Prince Noah, he kept many documents on Niall's family. She and Edward went through them together, eventually formulating "The Question:" what were the King and Queen of Fantasyland doing on a secret journey to the Gingerbread Empire? Edward found an old friend of the King and Queen, named Ethel, who supplied Edward and Niall with this important information: King Stephan of Fantasyland was sterile and unable to have children. To ensure an heir to Fantasyland, Rose took on a lover named Yavn and conceived the four children. Ultimately, Niall decided not to tell her siblings about Yavn in order to keep the good memory of her father alive. References Yavn was once of the creators of the original VMK. Trivia *The episode title is derived from Niall's curiosity in the story and how she seeks an answer to "the question." The title, however, was chosen to lead the audience to think it included a VMK character named Question. Category:Episodes Category:2016 Specials Category:Specials